


Crystallized Pineapple

by ShiieldMaidenofGondor



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Family, Gen, Harry Potter Next Generation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-12
Updated: 2013-10-12
Packaged: 2017-12-29 04:24:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1000853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShiieldMaidenofGondor/pseuds/ShiieldMaidenofGondor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry knew that his eldest son was mischievous. He expected to receive letters from Hogwarts about misbehavior once the boy went off to school. What he didn't expect was a letter before his son's classes even began.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crystallized Pineapple

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, dear readers and thank you for checking out my little one shot. 
> 
> I promise I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't have to worry about college tuition.
> 
> I have also published this work on fanfiction.net.

James Sirius Potter opened the drawer to his father’s desk with anticipation. He laughed to himself in triumph. _Teddy should really stop trying to keep things from me,_  he thought to himself. He would have to be quick with this. Teddy thought he was in the bathroom and would definitely get suspicious if he took longer than a few minutes. With a smirk, he found the object that his Uncle George had told him about last week at his father’s birthday dinner.

 _Is this it?_ James asked himself, his lip curling a little in disappointment. He had been expecting something... he wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it wasn't this. He hadn't been expecting a very worn, old, folded piece of parchment, but that was what he found. He pulled out his brand new wand from Ollivanders - maple and phoenix feather - and tapped the parchment, reciting what his Uncle had taught him: “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” Lines sprawled out across the page, spelling out the words “Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present the Marauder’s Map.”

James's face broke out into a mischievous grin that would make even _his_  mother nervous. _Yes! Grand-dad’s map,_ he thought, _Dad would kill me if he knew I had this._ He opened the map to see the full floor plan of Hogwarts. Headmistress McGonagall was sitting in her office, facing the wall behind her. Neville, or Professor Longbottom, as he had to remember to call him, was in one of the greenhouses, tending to the plants. Slughorn was in his office, completely stationary. James smirked at that. _Probably stuffing himself with that pineapple stuff,_  he concluded. Teddy had told him all about Hogwarts and had mentioned Professor Slughorn’s obsession with crystallized pineapple. _Imagine what I could do with this map..._ he thought gleefully, _I’ll be unstoppable. Those teachers won’t know what hit them._

* * *

It was nearing midnight on September second, and Harry Potter had just been rudely awoken by an owl tapping on his window. He immediately recognized it as a Hogwarts owl - the haughty stature, the professional and proper attitude, the holier-than-thou expression - and it had a letter addressed to Harry and Ginny in Neville’s handwriting. _Oh no,_  Harry thought. _Neville wouldn’t use a school owl unless it was something official..._ Neville Longbottom had been appointed head of Gryffindor house since Minerva became Headmistress and was therefore... _James’s head of house,_  he thought dejectedly. _It’s only been a day! What could he possibly have done to earn a letter home already?_  

Harry sighed to himself and got out of bed, trying not to wake Ginny. He slowly padded over to the window, stifling a yawn, and took the letter from the owl’s beak. Glancing at his wife, he considered waking her up, but decided against it. _Whatever James did will only make her upset, especially so late at night,_ he reasoned, thinking it better to let her rest and tell her in the morning. He made his way downstairs, fixed himself some tea, and sat at the kitchen table to read the letter.

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Potter,_

_Yesterday night, on September first, your son was found by Professor Slughorn out of bed after hours. James had been inside the professor’s office, and said that he was “looking for the crystallized pineapple.”_

_He has been given two weeks of detention for attempted theft from a professor, and will be expected to formally apologize to Professor Slughorn._

_Sincerely, Neville Longbottom, Head of Gryffindor House_

_P.S. Otherwise, James is doing well. He really reminds me of the two of you, too nosey for his own good! Only kidding, he’s a good kid. But you know how Slughorn overreacts when it comes to his precious pineapple._

Harry ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. _James..._ he thought, _Why, why, would you go after the pineapple so early in your school career? Why would you do that? **How** did he do that?_  He managed to avoid Peeves, Filch, and Mrs. Norris. _No... He couldn’t have... No. James didn’t even know about the Map, he couldn’t have found it if he didn’t know what it was._

 _Unless someone told him about it,_  said a nagging doubt at the back of his mind. The only people who know about it are Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and George. Hermione would murder Ron before she let him tell, Ginny would never, but George... George had given Harry the Map in the first place. He would want the tradition to continue. Sure, Harry had planned to pass the map onto his sons, but not until James was a third year, at least. But George would tell him as soon as James would understand and be able to use it. It had to have been him. _If he even has the map. There's no reason to jump to conclusions_ , Harry tried to convince himself. But no matter how he tried to convince himself that everything was fine and his son was just particularly good at navigating the halls, he couldn't squash his doubts. He had to confirm his suspicions for his peace of mind if nothing else. He rose from his chair and silently made his way into his office. It was a small room with a large window on the south wall, facing the forest behind the Potter’s home. Next to the window was Harry’s large mahogany desk. There was a little drawer on the lower right hand corner of the desk and it was there, underneath the false bottom, that he kept the Map. Harry opened the dawer and removed the false bottom to find an empty compartment.

The Marauder’s Map was gone.

Harry sighed to himself once more.

 _James has the Map. Merlin help the Professors,_ he prayed silently. If his son could do that much with just the map, Harry shuddered to think what would happen when his son got a hold of the invisibility cloak. _That child will be the death of me..._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
